Welding key to can cover



A. L. KRONQUEST WELDING KEY To CAN COVER Dec. 15, 1942.

Filed Feb. 8, 1940 o rsn/rofi 9 Patented Dec. 15, 1942 WELDING KEY TO CAN COVER Alfred L. Kronquest, Syracuse, N. Y., assignor to Continental Can Company, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application February 8, 1940, Serial No. 317,959

2 Claims.

The invention relates to new and useful improvements in a rip strip container and more particularly to the means for attaching the key to the container which is to be used in removing the rip strip.

An object of the invention is to provide a simple form of attaching means which firmly retains the key so that it will not break loose from its attaching means during handling and shipping, and wherein the key may be forcibly separated from its attaching means Without requiring the rupturing of the metal.

A further object of the invention is to provide a key attaching means of theabove type which includes a member permanently secured to the outer face of the container and having a firm tight fit within an opening in the key from which the key can only be forcibly removed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a key attaching means of the above type wherein the connection between the member permanently secured to the container and the key is a press tight fit which Will hold the key firmly to the container, and at the same time, permit its being forcibly removed without requiring the rupturing of any metal.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a key attaching means of the above type wherein the metal struck from the key in the forming of the slot therein is utilized as an attaching member to which the key may be secured.

These and other objects will in part be obvious and will in part be hereinafter more fully disclosed.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a view of a rip strip container partially in section showing a key secured thereto by the improved attaching means.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the same. Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line a-a of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 12-12 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a plan view of a slightly modified form of key attaching means; and

Figure 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same.

The invention relates to a container of the rip strip type wherein a scored strip is wound onto a key, and thus the metal severed for releasing the end from the body of the container. In this type of container it is a common expedient to secure the key to the container end by direct soldering or welding, and when it is desired to use the key it is torn loose from the container end either by rupturing of the solder or rupturing a portion of the metal of the key itself. It is often found by experience when a key, directly welded or soldered to a container top, is forcibly removed, that a portion of the metal of the top will be torn loose by the key, leaving a hole in the top through which the contents of the container may spill while the key is being wound for opening the same.

Applicant has devised anovel means for overcoming such undesirable tearing when the key is detached from its securing means for the purpose of opening the container. In the carrying out of applicants invention, the key is provided with an opening. A member is shaped so as to snugly fit the opening. This may be accomplished either by a press fit of the member into a tapered opening or by a swaging operation after the member is inserted in the opening. This member, which is firmly and rigidly attached to the key, is secured permanently to some portion of the container, preferably by spot welding although solder bonding may be used. When it is desired to remove the key for opening the container, force is applied so that the key is stripped from this retaining member, and this is accomplished without any danger of rupturing the metal of the container to which the member is spot welded and without the necessity of rupturing either the welding bond or the solder bond or the key itself.

Referring more in detail to the drawing, the improvement as illustrated includes a container body 7 having a top portion 8 secured thereto by double seaming in the well-known manner. The

I container body is scored at 9 and Ill which sets off a rip strip ll terminating in a tongue Ila which may be inserted into a slotted key for winding the same therearound to remove a portion of the container body set off by the score lines for opening said container. Referring par ticularly to Figures 1, 2, 4 and 6 of the drawing, a key I2 is shown for removing the rip strip l I, said key being attached to the cover member 8 by a holding member l3. This member l3 consists of a reformed portion of metal which is struck out of the key when forming a tongue receiving slot therein.

The key I2 is provided with the usual handle portion I4 and has a flattened end [5. Before attaching to the can top, the key is placed with its flattened, portion under a suitable die (not shown), and a portion of the metal thereof is struck out to form a tongue receiving slot [6. This portion of the metal which has been struck out is preferably reclaimed and used to form later the retaining member E3. The die used for striking out this slot is so shaped as to form an opening in the key having slightly tapered walls as indicated at I! and I8 in the drawing which, in turn, causes the side walls l9 and 2b of the struck out portion 13 to have a similar tapered shape. The struck out portion 13 is then slightly bowed as indicated at 2| in the drawing so that a portion of the metal thereof will pro-' In Figures 5 and 6 of the drawing a slightly .modified method of forming the slot in the key and reshaping the holding member i3 is shown. The slot E6 in this case is formed by a die so shaped as to bevel the end portions thereof as indicated at 23 and 24 in Figures '5 and 6 of the drawing, the side walls of the die in this case being straight and parallel and thereby forming a retaining piece !3 with straight side walls. In order to firmly attach the key to the member l3 in this form of the invention so that it may be only forcibly removed from the container, the

ends thereof are swaged as indicated at 25 and 26 of the drawings, which swaged parts overlie the beveled portions 23 and 2 1. As in the preferred form of the invention, a bowed portion 21 1-.

is formed in the retaining member i3, and the member permanently attached to the container top by spot welding or soldering.

The member l3 may be attached to the container at any suitable place thereon by spot welding or soldering the same thereto after it has been assembled in the key and firmly attached to the key. When it is desired to remove the key for opening the container, the key is separated from this retaining member 53 by force. The friction grip between the retaining member and the key is only sufficient to insure that the key will not be separated from said member during handling of the cover for assembling the cover on the container, or during the handling of the closed container until the time that it is desired to open the container. The force applied to the key for stripping it from the retaining member, whether the key is secured thereto by frictional grip or by swaging, is not so great but what the separation can be readily accomplished by anyone desiring to open the container.

While the retaining member is preferably formed from the metal struck out of the key in the forming of the slot for the tongue of the tearing strip, it will be understood that this retaining member may be made in any desired way, the essential features residing in the per manent attachment of the retaining member to the container end and the press fit or swaged connection between the key and the retaining member. Likewise, the opening in the key for the retaining member may be formed separate from the slot which receives the tearing strip. lt is obvious, therefore, that many changes may be made in the details of construction and the arrangement of the parts as illustrated without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and is desired to secure by Letters of Patent is: v

1. The combination of a rip strip container, a key for opening the same having a slot there through adapted to receive the rip strip, means for attaching the key to the container including a member shaped and dimensioned so as to fit within the slot in the key, said member extending from one end of the slot to the other and contacting with the end walls of the slot so as to firmly hold the key attached to the container, and means for permanently connecting said member intermediate the ends thereof to the outer face of the container.

2. The combination of a rip strip container, a key for opening the same having a slot therethrough adapted to receive the rip strip, means for attaching the key to the container including a member shaped and dimensioned so as to fit within the slot in the key, said member extending from one end of the slot to the other and contacting with the end walls of the slot so as to firmly hold the key attached to the container, said member intermediate the ends thereof being curved so as to project from the slot in the key and means for permanently connecting said curved projecting portion to the outer face of the container.

ALFRED L. KRONQUEST. 

